When Chatterjoy opened her eyes she noticed she was in some kind of basement. Her neck felt uncomfortable and when she tried to rub it to alleviate some of the stress that surely must have built up there, her hoof was met with metal.
Upon fully opening her eyes compared to the drowsy closed ones she noticed that around her neck was some sort of clamp and it was chained tightly to the wall behind her. The pegasus observed the wall with close inspection. It was a sturdy one, it would seem no matter how hard she would tug on the chain, it wouldn't budge from the wall.
It was damp and the air smelled of mold and humidity. The ground beneath her was cold stone and her joints did not fail to complain to her about their predicament. Bars, occupied the opposite side of the wall and made a perfect rectangle with two other stone walls. From her observations it looked like she was in an indent in the wall. A fairly big indent.
"You've awoken, finally!" A familiar voice exclaimed but then added annoyed, "That spell was only to keep you out for a few hours instead you slept for the whole day!"
Upon the shadow emerging from the darkness Chatterjoy recognized the full black body suit wearing unicorn to be her foalnapper. He stood proudly and he stood smugly as he watched her every movement.
"What do you want with me? I have no money! In fact if you wanted money you probably should have foalnapped somepony else. But then that would mean somepony else wouldn't be happy. I don't want ponies to be unhappy. But if I'm here and not at the concert than Jazzy won't be a happy pony and that makes me sad that she wouldn't be a ha-"
"ENOUGH!" yelled the foalnapper, "Your talking is annoying and I will have none of that. In fact it is probably some elaborate trick to have me let you go! I'll have you know that my employer is paying me big bits for this and I will not HAVE you ruin it by tricking me!"
Chatterjoy just stared at him her mouth still open from talking. She hummed to herself and smiled. She nodded her head enthusiastically as if she agreed not to talk to him. The pegasus turned her back to him and plopped herself down on the damp cold stone floor.
"I do however need you to tell me all you know about Jazzy," he spoke up. He seemed to have calmed down and walked to the bars pressing his snout against them.
Chatterjoy sat up and looked at him. She shook her head and sealed her lips.
"You can talk now," he growled unamused.
Chatterjoy took a huge gulp of air and puffed out her chest.
"Well! I've know Jazzy for a really really really like dinosaur, cave pony, old time and there was this time that she had to keep time for me when I went against Pinkie Pie, you know the party pony of Ponyville in a trial of tongues competition. I can't remember who won but it was really really really super fun like a huge grand galloping gala fun!"
A few minutes passed of Chatterjoy stopping nonstop and saying unusable things that the foalnapper would not be able to use against the rosy unicorn in any blackmail attempts.
"Enough."
"And then there was that time that I got lost trying to find her house but no matter how hard I looked I couldn't see it. Somepony had messed up big with all the fog and stuff. So I was like CELESTIA'S BEARD! I can't find it! Like lost in the middle of the ocean between Equestria and the Griffon Kingdoms lost. You know cause the ocean is so darn big! Have you ever seen anything so big and vast! Like vast as in all of Celestia's knowledge vast!"
"ENOUGH!"
"And then I was like potato soup are you crazy!?"
Sleepy Drift was glaring at the pegasus with all his might. Somehow this talkative pegasus had managed to side swipe his question. He could see now why she was called Chatterjoy. A pony would think that she would reveal secrets easily but she was much more clever than he initially thought. Perhaps she was one of those ponies who pretended to be dumb but were actual geniuses.
"Lets play a game," he drawled levitating a game board and some pieces to play on.
Chatterjoy's eyes lit up and she clapped her hooves excitedly.
"I love games! Like I love them as much as I love to eat food! What's your favorite food? I like cheese hay fries but I also like many other things. I hate coffee though. Do you like coffee? Hey since we are playing a game does that technically not make you my foalnapper but instead my foalsitter?"
Sleepy Drift's eyes were twitching as he tried to control his anger at the chattering pegasus. It seemed he wouldn't be able to shut her up anytime soon.
"I am fairly certain pegasus, that I am indeed your foalnapper."
Chatterjoy just shrugged and eagerly awaited the game.
"I assume you know how to play chess?" Sleepy Drift asked as he levitated the board and pieces and now a foldable table between the bars and set up the game.
"Yep! Though Jazzy beats me at chess all the time! I'm not very good at it because I always go for TOTAL DOMINATION!" Chatterjoy exclaimed and Sleepy Drift could have sworn he saw a fire behind her at her excitement.
"Ladies first."
"See, I think you are more of a foalsitter! Maybe you should try that job instead of foalnapping. It seems like it would be easier, I like easy things, I'm not very smart so the easier the better. Like math I wish it was easy but its not its SUPER hard and no matter how many times I try I can't ever do it right! Its like directions. Why do ponies have to name EVERYTHING? Can't they just say I live right next to this place or right next to that thingamajig."
Sleepy Drift just tried to tune her out as Chatterjoy continued to blabber nonsense into his ear.
That blasted Moon Festival better end soon otherwise I'm going to go insane!
The unicorn moved a knight and had taken out one of Chatterjoy's archmages.
Sleepy Drift began to notice a pattern as he played Chatterjoy countless times. She seemed to want to take out every piece on the board and attacked pieces blindly. There were a few times the pegasus seemed to think things through but all though she seemed to think outside the box she could never see outside of it.
Finally the unicorn decided that Chatterjoy was not some genius pony in disguise but in fact the simple pony his employer had described to him about.
After Chatterjoy's fifteenth loss she screamed in frustration.
"Lets play a different game!" she exclaimed throwing her hooves up in anger.
Sleepy Drift rolled his eyes and levitated the chess game and put it back into place on a shelf in a corner of the room where Chatterjoy saw a number of different games; mostly puzzles.
This time the unicorn put a deck of cards on the little foldable table. He shuffled them and handed her seven and himself the same amount.
"Lets play a simple game of Go Fish shall we?" He asked.
The pegasus nodded enthusiastically and at the motion of Sleepy Drift she looked at her cards and made hmmm sounds.
"Do you have any Princesses?"
"Go fish."
Chatterjoy drew from the deck.
"Do you have any Captain of the guard?"
"May Celestia curse you..."
Chatterjoy handed him two of her Captains.
"Do you have any Princesses?"
"No. Go fish."
Chatterjoy drew from the deck.
"Do you have any threes?"
"Go fish."
Sleepy Drift drew from the deck.
"Do you have any Princesses?"
The cards in Sleepy Drift's telekinesis were beginning to shake as his anger built up.
"BY CELESTIA I HAVE NO STINKIN' PRINCESSES!" He yelled toppling over the foldable table and the deck of cards that went flying into Chatterjoy's mane.
The pegasus shook herself and mumbled words that went along the lines of no needing to scream or yell.
"If you don't like Go fish we can always talk? Do you like to talk? I love to talk! I love talking even more than I love eating! And I love eating like Pinkie Pie loves throwing parties!"
A few minutes later Sleepy Drift was huffing as he stared at the sleeping pegasus. He had cast a quick sleep spell on her and he rubbed his temples as he felt a headache coming on. Of all the ponies he had foalnapped in his life, this one took the cake.
Chatterjoy was rolling a rock uphill but to her disappointment every time she got it up it always rolled down. The pegasus couldn't imagine what drove her to do this useless task but she felt compelled to do it anyway.
She was in a very hot and humid area. Volcanoes erupted in the background but thats all it seemed to be. The lava never reached her and never stopped flowing. The air smelt burnt and she could practically taste the sweat as it dripped from her brow.
Everything looked red and angry and it felt right as Chatterjoy felt frustrated and aggressive but she couldn't place why she was feeling so to begin with in the first place.
As the pegasus began the chore of pushing the rock up the hill again a voice greeted her ears. A voice she liked hearing almost as much as her friend Jazzy.
"Why art thou pushing a rock when it is fruitless to be doing so anyway?"
Chatterjoy looked and saw the pony she idolized; Princess Luna.
She did a quick bow and for once in her life found herself lost for words.
"Raise thine head, Chatterjoy," Princess Luna said. Chatterjoy did so but the Princess could tell that she was very bubbly.
"Tell Us fair Chatterjoy where the foalnapper has taken you,give Us all the information you know."
Chatterjoy gulped, "I believe he said his name was Rift Sleep...Sleep Rift...Rifty Shift?"
Princess Luna stared blankly at the pegasus.
"Sleepy Hollow? Shifty Sleep?......he is a unicorn!"
Princess Luna rolled her eyes. She had guess as much, "Is the vile unicorn working for somepony?"
Chatterjoy seemed to think about it and nodded, "Affirmative Your Majesty!" The pegasus gave a quick salute and began to try to recall the name of her tormentor again.
Princess Luna rolled her eyes again. No wonder this pegasus wandered into the warehouse district and got herself foalnapped. The Princess of the Night had to wonder if said pegasus was broken in some way or another.
"Has he mentioned where he has taken you?"
"Um...that would be a negative Your Majesty! But it is quiet or at least it seems quiet. You know not like a big town. Big towns are noisy and I really don't like big towns but I come to Canterlot to visit my friend and for my friend I would do anything. Well, except listening to her when she told me not to talk to strange ponies and thats how I got in this predicament anyway. How is Jazzy doing? I bet she is totally freaking out right now! What do they want with me anyway? Do you know? I bet you do! Your Princess Luna and the Princesses know like everything right!? Well, maybe no-"
Princess Luna had stuffed her hoof into Chatterjoy's mouth.
"Enough fair Chatterjoy, the information you have given Us has helped. Please do try to remember the name of the unicorn though. It will help Us to know who he is. If able We need you to find the name of his employer as well."
Chatterjoy grinned and nodded and the Princess removed her hoof and shook it free or moisture.
"We will tell Jazzy that you are fine. As for what they want with you, We think it is to get Jazzy to back from the concert."
Chatterjoy grew angry and her wings flared furiously.
"Tell Jazzy not to let bullies tell her what to do! The concert is everything to her and I want her to play in it even if I'm not there!"
Princess Luna smiled and nodded. A genuine smile and with a shimmer she had vanished from Chatterjoy's dreamworld.
"Now to get that rock to stay up there!"